Shakespeare & Company Fourth of July celebration
Lenox — Shakespeare & Company will host “We Hold These Truths,” an Independence Day celebration, on Tuesday, July 4, from 1:30 to 5 p.m.
The event will include ongoing activities for the whole family such as a children’s crafts table, face painting and a photo booth. Local musicians the Amy Ryan Band will perform their unique mix of country, rock and blues. Company artists and special guests from the community will read the Declaration of Independence beginning at 3 p.m. Food will be available for purchase on site from Firefly Gastropub & Catering Co.
The event will take place rain or shine. For more information, contact Shakespeare & Company at (413) 637-3353.
–E.E.
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Griffin to host book signing with Mickalene Thomas
Great Barrington — On Monday, July 3, from 5 to 7 p.m., Griffin at 165 Main Street in Great Barrington will host a book signing and reception with artist Mickalene Thomas for her book “Muse: Mickalene Thomas Photographs.”
Thomas makes paintings, collages, photography, video and installations that draw on art history and popular culture to create a contemporary vision of female sexuality, beauty and power. Thomas’ work is in numerous international public and private collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA PS1, the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Studio Museum in New York City; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Art Institute of Chicago; Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut; and Hara Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. She resides in Brooklyn.
For more information, contact Griffin at (413) 528-5000.
–E.E.
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Fairy house workshop for children at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead
Pittsfield — On Sunday, July 2, from 1 to 3 p.m., artist Betsy Baczek will lead a workshop for children on creating fairy houses and gnome homes at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead.
Children will learn how to turn everyday items into decorative, fairy-themed constructions. The preferred base for the project is old Tupperware or other shallow plastic dishes, which will be partially filled with potting soil on which participants may construct homes and gardens. The finished products may be taken home or left for inclusion in Arrowhead’s summer season exhibitions.
There is a suggested donation of $5 per child. This program is recommended for children five and older with parental supervision and reservations are requested. For reservations or more information, contact Peter Bergman at (413) 442-1973 x14.
–E.E.
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Olana to host presentation on fireflies
Hudson, N.Y. — On Wednesday, July 5, at 7 p.m., Olana State Historic Site will host “Traveling Talks: Silent Sparks of Fireflies,” a presentation suitable for all ages with environmental educator Fran Martino.
Martino will teach about fireflies’ communication, behavior and role in the ecosystem. Participants may bring a mason jar with holes punched in it or borrow one at Olana–the program is catch and release. Fran Martino is the proprietor of River Haggie Outdoors, a woman-owned business enterprise certified with New York State Department of Economic Development and was recently awarded an Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Champion Award.
The cost of the program is $10 for the general public and $5 for Olana members. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact Olana’s education department at (518) 828-1872 x105.
–E.E.
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Rainbow Seniors of Berkshire County launches two new groups
Berkshire County — Rainbow Seniors of Berkshire County will launch two new monthly meetings of its program serving the social and cultural needs of the county’s LGBTQ senior citizens. A new general meeting will begin Saturday, July 8, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Stockbridge and will continue to meet on the second Saturday of each month. Saturday, July 22, from 2 to 4 p.m. will be the inaugural meeting of the new women’s group at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Pittsfield. The group will continue to meet on the fourth Saturday of every month. For more information about the South County meeting, contact Drew Herzig at (413) 344-9760 or Ed Sedarbaum at (413) 441-6006. For information about the women’s group, contact Celia Rock at friend.celia@yahoo.com or Sederbaum at (413) 441-6006.
–E.E.
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Fairview to present mindful eating program
Great Barrington — Fairview Hospital will present “Mindful Eating: An Effective Approach To Weight Loss,” an eight-week program beginning Thursday, March 2, and held on subsequent Thursday evenings from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the hospital’s conference room. The program will be facilitated by Robert Hoechster, RD, LDN, of Fairview’s outpatient nutrition services.
The program will use mindfulness meditation, eating exercises, instruction and self-reflection to cultivate awareness and help repair the individuals’ relationships with food. The program is modeled after mindfulness-based stress reduction practices that help treat stress, addictions, anger problems, relationship problems and more. The concepts and skills learned in this program are designed to empower an individual to make balanced food choices and gain control of eating and weight. The program is not a clinic for eating disorders or a program focused on losing weight.
The fee of $100 will be deducted by $25 for those who fully complete the program. For more information or to register, call Robert Hoechster at (413) 854-9661.
–E.E.
